Hydro Power in India: Progress, Challenges and the Way Forward, 16-17 Jan. 2012, New Delhi

Mission:
- Hydro power, at about 38 GW, accounts for just over one-fifth of India’s total installed power capacity of 181 GW. In the early nineties, the share of
hydro power was about 30 per cent. At the end of the Tenth Plan, in 2007, it fell to 26 per cent. The share continues to fall as we continue to miss
capacity addition targets.

- The past couple of years have been exceptionally sluggish in terms of project completion and financial closure. Against a target of achieving over
3,500 MW between April 2009 and March 2011, only 729 MW could be achieved. Lack of financial closure is another major area of concern, with
only a handful of projects having achieved financial closure so far this year.

- The reasons are well known. With several projects facing opposition from local communities and others, environmental and forestry clearance issues,
completion risk is among the highest in this sector. It doesn’t help that several of the project sites, where construction or pre-construction activities
are under way, are currently facing political disturbances including those in northern and north-eastern Himalayan regions.